Real Madrid have sent shockwaves through the transfer market with a surprise €100m (£85.4m) bid for RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande.
Real have made great strides to overhaul Jose Mourinho’s squad this summer, and are said to be in the market to add Manchester City’s Rodri after adding the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries earlier in the window
The move for Diomande, though, is their most audacious yet. The Ivorian winger had been of interest to a number of clubs so far this summer, notably Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal have also been linked.
Liverpool withdrew their interest in the 19-year-old in late June after seeing bids for his services rejected and being informed of his preference to move to Paris.
However, PSG is the move Diomande wants, yet there has been no official bid from them – although PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has held talks with the German club. Diomande has already agreed a contract until 2031 with the Champions League winners, but Leipzig will only sell for an exceptional fee.
“Everything went fast,” says Yan Diomande. Indeed, it is extraordinary now to think that this time last year Diomande’s entire senior career amounted to half a dozen starts for Leganes at the back end of last season as they were relegated from LaLiga. He scored in two of those six games, against Espanyol and Valladolid. Even his team did not find the net in the other four. But the teenager did enough to persuade RB Leipzig to part with €20m to bring him to the Bundesliga. Once there, he has been a revelation.
